WASHINGTON, 28 March 2004 — President Pervez Musharraf vowed yesterday that he would “eliminate” Al-Qaeda and said that the terror network’s second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, was on the run.

Musharraf spoke during an interview with ABC News, one day after an audio tape — attributed to Zawahiri — urged Pakistan’s military to support Al-Qaeda and sweep Musharraf from power.

“Now as far as if he’s taunting me well, I would like to say that I’m going to eliminate all of them,” Pakistan’s leader said, referring to Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda loyalists.

“I mean, Zawahiri is on the run. For heaven’s sake, it’s just one tape. Let’s not get excited,” Musharraf said. “It’s very clear we’ll eliminate them, and the tribal elders are cooperating,” he added.

The call was made in a tape broadcast by the Arab Al-Jazeera television network late Thursday and attributed to Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri in a recording described by US intelligence as “probably authentic.”

The tape called on Pakistan’s military to “not obey orders” and overthrow Musharraf’s administration, which it calls a “traitor government.”

Pakistan’s military and government have poured scorn on the tape.

Furious Islamists took to Pakistan’s streets Friday to protest the 11-day military operation against tribal fighters.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military declared yesterday it had accomplished its mission in a 12-day bloody offensive against a major Al-Qaeda hide-out, but stopped short of saying that the operation was over.

“We have achieved our target; we have destroyed and dismantled the terrorists’ sanctuary,” spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told AFP.

Sultan would not declare the operation in the South Waiziristan tribal territory near the Afghan border over, but another senior army official said the operation would be wrapped up by today at the latest.

“We will be winding up the operation today or most probably by Sunday,” the official, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.

The operation is the largest in the semi autnomous tribal territory along the 2,500-kilometer (1,600-mile) border with Afghanistan since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terror in late 2001.

Around 200 suspected Al-Qaeda fighters and their local supporters had been arrested and dozens of militants killed in the battles, Sultan said.

He would not say when the military siege of a 60 square kilometer area, involving thousands of troops, would be lifted to mark the end of offensive. The operation was launched on March 16.

Asked if the “high value target”, mentioned by President Musharraf at the start of the operation, had escaped, the official said “the possibility of someone slipping away cannot be ruled out.”

The military spokesman said some 48 of the arrested people had been released after being cleared in the interrogation.

Sultan could not give an exact figure for the number of militants killed in the fighting saying that “quite a few” were seen being buried by the fighters during the clashes.

The unnamed military official said the area under cordon had been “almost completely cleared of militants, but the hunt for terrorists will go on.” He did not say how many fighters were still believed to be in the area.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told the Pakistani Parliament Thursday that up to 55 foreign and local armed extremists had been killed.

Elsewhere in the tribal region five rockets slammed into a village east of Wana early yesterday that is inhabited by the Mehsud tribe which supports the government campaign against Al-Qaeda, Sultan said.

Two civilians were feared dead in the attack, which officials believed could have been carried out in retaliation for the tribe’s support of the military campaign.

Pamphlets have been circulated in the tribal territory warning elders of serious consequences if they cooperate with the authorities, residents said.